Horrible sway

[wafflecakes13]

Currently almost 163k miles, bought when it had 135. 01 z71 4x4. I have only found a little bit of info on this in other posts so I thought I'd give it a shot. Hitting a bump on the highway or going around a ramp or decent turn in the road and I feel like I'm driving a boat. On the highway hitting a bump the rearend sways pretty bad for a couple seconds. On a turn on a backroad where speed limit is 45 I need to slow down to 40 to not sway. My buddy in his extended cab dodge takes the same turn at about 55 and it feels solid. I think someone else said it was rear control arms. Other people said that and replacing bushings/upgrading sway bars do the trick. Does this sound right? I don't really have it in the budget for hundreds of dollars of upgraded partsl

 

[TheAutumnWind]

how are your shocks?

 

[1992rs]

+1 on shocks.

Also, have inspected the sway bar end links? Highly unlikely your rear control bushings are worn, at least I never hear about it, but stranger things have happened.

 

[TheAutumnWind]

upgrading sway bars should not be necessary. Shocks, sway bar bushings, and end links, and finally springs are what I'd be looking at if you are sure that it is the rear and that you are at stock height.
Sway bar end links and bushings are cheap. I'd recommend MOOG "problem solver" for these items. Generally that line is a solid choice. They can be installed by anyone vaguely comfortable with a wrench.


Rear control arm bushings might be worth a look if those items are in perfect order.

For shocks @ stock height I will recommend bilstein 4600s. They are a few bucks more per shock than all the other junk out there, but I've tried most of the mainstream stuff now and they are definitely the best bang for the buck.

My Denali was scary bad on the highway with blown air ride shocks, and worn out springs, which was the condition when i took ownership
.
I originally installed new gabriel maxcontrol monotubes which helped but those wore out in less than a year. Swapped to 4600s and new springs and its a huge improvement.

I had KYB monomax shocks on a previous truck and gr2's on a car. I have bilstein 5100's on my Jeep. All installed by me. The Bilsteins will be my choice on every vehicle going forward.

 

[wafflecakes13]

Thanks for the responses guys, I didn't know how big of deal shocks could be until looking around at lift info recently. But anyhow right after I got the truck I got kyb shocks all around. Couldn't find many bad reviews on them but would have definitely went ahead and gone with bilstein if I was educated then. Anyway, the sway was the same before and after the shocks. I've just kind of dealt with it since owning it for 30k or so miles.

 

[1992rs]

I'd look towards your rear trailing arm or sway bar bushings then. Upgrading to bigger sways, while its a good idea, is just a bandaid in your scenario. It might make it better, but it doesn't fix that fact that something needs to be replaced.

If everything checks out to be okay, it could it be your just not use to how these SUVs ride?

Mine sways like a boat, heavy wind and high overpasses will rock it back and forth. When I went from 17's to 20's it cut it down a little, but the fact of the matter is the center of gravity is so high on these things it just comes with the territory. There's a reason why people like to lower these rigs.


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[TheAutumnWind]

Are you completely sure that the issue is in the rear? One can effect the other pretty easily.

I have several items that are worn in the front that I intend to repplace that contribute to that.

 

[JML07denali]

I had the same issue with the rear swaying on the highway. It ended up being the front sway bar end links that were broken. Moog makes a replacement set for less than $30.


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[Chip18]

Hmm well ... they are not Sport Cars ... but having said that ... it sounds like "something" is just not right??? Back to basics ... put her up on 4 sturdy jack stands, with the wheels off and inspect and tug on stuff.

The sway bar ends on the rear suspension sounds like a likely suspect??? The bushings on them may have "disintegrated??" If such is the case, there would be unwanted slack before the sway bar would have any effect.

Take a look at your buddies sway bar end link bushings and then look at yours. End links are inexpensive and simple enough to replace. If those check out ... then you need to look for other issues.

 

[wafflecakes13]

Alright guys, so I finally made the time today to get up under and look around. Rear bushings appeared to be fine on the end links. But what do ya know, the top side of the bottom bushings (where the end links attach to the sway bar) on the front were gone all except for a tiny ring of rubber that I peeled off with my fingers. I'm sure they need to be replaced, it's just crazy to think that those tiny pieces missing would contribute to a swaying as bad as I have. I was expecting multiple missing bushings or broken end links honestly.